Whether you believe in climate change or not, we can all agree that the summer heat is real. Maybe this does mean that Jamaica is actually a real place. But fear not! It’s time to be like Spice and cool it dung, but not just with ‘piece a ice’. Here are 5 tips to help you stay cool this summer.

1. Stay hydrated

Yea, I know we say this one a lot, but that’s just to emphasize how important it is to stay hydrated. In this heat, it’s not just about eight glasses of liquid anymore, it’s about drinking as much as you can whenever you can, especially if you’re being active. Eight glasses is a great start, but remember, that rule was made when the climate was a bit cooler than it was now, so you may want to drink a bit more. Also, please try your best to make as much of those liquids water.  

2. Try the Egyptian method

In ancient times, the Egyptians would take their bed coverings and dip them in cold water, wring them out so they aren’t wet but still cool, and sleep with them. As the dampness evaporates you’ll feel an awesome cooling effect. If you don’t want to go that far, you could simply place your sheets in your fridge and take them out when you’re ready to sleep. Sounds crazy but the place hot b!

3. Wear cool clothing

No, not cool as in to just look good. I mean, wear clothes that are literally cool. Wear some dry fit clothing, cotton, you know those light and bright coloured materials. Dark clothing tends to draw heat more, so if you need to go outside lighter colour clothing may be the better choice. Sigh. If only I didn’t like black clothes so much.

4. No AC? Power up your fans.

In case you may be wondering, fans don’t actually make you cool, it just circulates the air which makes your sweat and heat evaporate faster. So, in essence, it indirectly cools you down, but it’s really your body that’s still doing work. With that knowledge, you can power up your fans by placing it right in front of a window. That way you’ll get more breeze.

5. If the window fan thing didn’t work, try this.

This is actually a very old trick. Simply freeze as much as ice you can, then place them in a bucket and put the bucket in front of your fan. This is what you call a DIY-AC. Now that’s what you call staying cool on a budget.

We all want to be hot but this was not what we meant. While these are short term answers, let us remember that as long as climate change persists this will only get worse every year. Stay tuned for our article on how to prevent climate change and slow this down. Remember to be like Spice, and cool it with piece a’ ice!

–Fabrizio Darby